Big Bad Toy Store
has two very cool - and very large - G.I. Joe exclusives available
right now. I'm reviewing one of them tonight, called Slaughter's
Marauders. This set includes 7 figures, which I have in order in the
photos: Vincent "Falcon" Falcone, Gabriel "Barbecue" Kelly, Low-Light,
Spirit Iron-Knife, David "Red Dog" Taputapu, Varujan "Bull" Ayvazyan,
and Felix "Mercenary" Stratton. I have the second set here as well, but
I thought I'd give each set its due independently. The second set is
called Dreadnoks, and I'll be looking at them soon.

These
figures are done up in the classic 80's Joe style, with plenty of
articulation and a good set of accessories. These single packs of seven
figures run $50 at Big Bad Toy Store, or just $90 for the two sets
combined. Not bad, considering that makes each figure just about $7
each if you buy the sets individually, or less than $6.50 each if you
buy both sets together!

Packaging - ***1/2
While I took a shot of the package, I ended up skipping it since I had
so many cool photos of the figures themselves. It's a pretty standard
wide, flat box with a big window so you can see all seven figures
clearly. It's also marked with a big BBTS exclusive sticker, and
there's some personalization for each character. In fact, there's a
character card for each on the back that you can cut out for your
collection!

Better
yet, it's pretty collector friendly. You might end up cutting a piece
of tape here and there, and if you remove the rubber bands holding the
accessories in their hands, you might find it tough to keep them in
place back in the package. But there are no twisties, bands or other
restraints holding the figures themselves in place. Then again, once
you scissor those character cards out of the back, it's not going to
make much difference.

Sculpting - ***1/2
I'm quite impressed with the work we've been seeing in the small scale
Joe line the last couple years, and these sets are great examples.
Remember, these figures are all about 4" tall.

The
portraits are all strong without being extreme, and there is a ton of
small sculpted details on the costumes and accessories. There's
textures, wrinkles, buttons, buckles, and all sorts of tiny extras
sculpted with sharp definition.

Is there re-use here from some
past figures? Yep, there sure is, but they manage to produce some
visually unique figures nonetheless.

The hands are designed to
work with the accessories, and they all do it well. Every one of the
figures stands great on his own, but there's a small display stand
included just in case.

Paint - ***1/2
While some of the pieces are molded in the color, there's also plenty
of paint work, as well as some tampo work.

The
eyes are surprisingly clean and sharp, especially considering the scale
on these. The tattoos appear to be tampo style work, and these are
cleanly applied. There could be a bit more detail work on the paint
side, since most of the colors are pretty broad in their coverage, but
it's a minor quibble.

All of the figures are colorful,
whether
they have any camo or not. There's even a wash used on Barbecue Kelly
that looks like soot and ash on his armor! It all looks terrific, and
considering the scale, is quite impressive.

Articulation - ***
I'm one of those people that has a major complaint with standard Joe
articulation, which is always going to frustrate me and drop my score.
If you love the usual design, you'll love these.

There's
the ball jointed neck, and it works pretty well on most of the figures.
It works better on a couple than on some that are a bit more restricted
by their outfits, but overall it's a good joint.

There's pin/disc
style ball shoulders and elbows as well, and they work well on most of
the figures. The large biceps on Red Dog restrict his elbows a little,
but he's really the only one with the issue.

All the figures have
pin knees and pin ankles as well, and again, these all work great. All
of them also have a ball chest joint, and some even have a cut waist.

So
why the lower score? Because they all have the traditional ball hips,
without any sort of knee or thigh cut. The hips themselves are good
(and they use the metal posts, making them virtually indestructible),
but without any sort of cut on the upper leg, the poses are greatly
restricted. This has always bugged me, and it looks like it will
continue to do so. However, like I said - if you're happy with the
usual Joe articulation, then you'll be happy with these.

Accessories - ***1/2
Everybody comes with a good assortment of extras, some of which I
didn't even manage to get into the photos.

There's
handguns (some with silencers), knifes, rifles, flame throwers - plenty
of weapons. As I mentioned, one of the handguns has a removable
silencer, and there's even a gun with a breach that breaks open, and a
site that pops up and down! That's pretty amazing for weapons
in
this scale.

Some have their own unique take
on weaponry -
Barbecue Kelly has his flame thrower, Spirit Iron-Knife has his big
Bowie blade, the Bull has two revolvers, and Red Dog comes with...a
football. He can even hold it in his hand, thanks to a slit in one side.

Along
with all the weapons, a couple of the figures have removable head gear.
Falcone's beret can come off, and the snow goggles on Low-Light are
also removable. Red Dog is wearing both a rope head band and
a
necklace that can be removed.

I already mentioned this
earlier,
but each figure comes with a plastic Joe stand as well, personalized
with their own nameplate. You don't have to use them to keep them
standing, but they look pretty good with the stands as well.

Fun Factor - ****
These were THE toys of the 80's, and they've translated great to a new
century. I might not be a huge little Joe fan (I grew up on the sixth
scale variety, and never made the switch), but I can tell an amazing
toy when I see it. With plenty of accessories and articulation, these
are the perfect conflict action figure.

Value - ***1/2
You can get these for under $6.50 each. That was an excellent price a
couple years ago, let alone today. While there's some re-use here,
let's also not forget that these are exclusives.

Things to Watch Out For -
Not a thing - these are great toys, well made and sturdy. They could
stand up to a round in the sand box, they'll certainly stand up to
basic handling.

Overall - ***1/2
If you're kids are looking for more
heroes to add to their Joe army, this set is a great buy. I haven't
been paying a lot of attention to Joes in the last couple years, but I
gotta say that I'm quite impressed with the work across the board here.

I've included a ton of photos,
so be sure to scroll all the way down to see them all. I'll be hitting
up the Dreadnoks soon!